Bob Hamp

The stage is set. Everything is in place. God has this knack for telling stories and being in them at the same time. He has a propensity to unfold a story that is about now and later at the same time. He’s really good at this. In fact all of reality is the telling and re-telling of The Story. Like the wooden dolls that all look the same but nest inside one another, God’s story is the same but is being told at multiple levels.

“Now”–”then”–”here”–”there”…these ideas are all concepts related to the stage God designed. The Story is in all of them. And it is unfolding at all times. We read of Adam and Eve, we read of us. We read of the nation of Israel, we read of us. These stories were no less true at the time of their happening, and they are no less untrue right now,as you read this.

So the stage is set. A stage like no other. Whole dimensions were designed so that God’s Story could work for eternity, but in time.

He begins to tell, write, and live His own love story, all at the same time. Given the opportunity to write our own love story, I think that you and I would do it very differently. It would involve far less tragedy and suffering. If I wrote it, every character in the story would always suit my preferences in every moment. I think the reason I would write it this way, is that I am far more concerned with myself and my immediate needs than on expressing real love.

He is far more concerned with generating the Fullest Expression of Love Possible. When He focuses on Himself all Creation becomes the Beneficiary.

Therefore His love story would involve sacrifice. And it would involve redemption. It would involve Him laying down His life for His beloved. For His story to include these deep and burning expressions of Ultimate Love, the Story would also need to include the Need for such things.